Indian Space Programme Discussion

member_29350 · Post by **member_29350** » 29 Feb 2016 21:12

Looks like there is no change in budget for space 6K crores last year and this year too

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 29 Feb 2016 22:02

Hot Isostatic Press Facility was inaugurated at VSSC
Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) is a manufacturing process used to reduce the porosity of metals and increase the density of many ceramic materials. This improves the mechanical properties and workability of the material. HIP Facility is an extremely useful facility for enhancing yield and reliability of investment castings for flagship projects of ISRO namely cryogenic and semi-cryogenic engines as well as for processing high temperature materials towards emerging programmes.

Cryogenic and semi-cryogenic engines employ altogether forty types of investment castings in seven types of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys. During manufacturing, defects are inevitable at some locations of the investment castings due to their complex shapes. HIP facility supports the defect healing of performance-critical cast components enhancing their quality and reliability.

Ceramic and other high temperature materials play a very crucial role in the upcoming programmes of ISRO. These materials have very high melting points and extremely difficult to process through liquid metallurgy route. HIP facilitates the solid state processing of ceramics and other high temperature materials through powder metallurgy route. It enables achieving theoretical density in the processed materials ensuring the quality and reliability. Unlike uniaxial pressure based hot presses, HIP with isostatic pressure conditions facilitates processing of highly complex shapes.

A state-of-the-art HIP facility was inaugurated at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Thiruvananthapuram by Shri A. S Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO on February 19, 2016. Dr K Sivan, Director, VSSC was also present along with the senior colleagues.

This is the first HIP Facility in the country in terms of its capability. The size of the Hot zone is 500 mm height and 350 mm diameter. The operating temperature is 2000 deg. C and pressure is 2000 bar. The facility was established mainly through indigenous sources.

Specifications of HIP Facility at VSSC

Furnace I

Furnace II

Heating element

Lanthanum doped Molybdenum

Graphite

Max. Temperature

1400°C

2000°C

Max. Operating Pressure

2000bar (200MPa)

2000bar (200MPa)

Working zone

500 mm dia x 1000 mm height

350 mm dia x 500 mm height

Thermocouples used

Type-B (Pt-30%Rh)

sheath material-Molybdenum with Alumina as an Insulation material

Type- C (W-5%Rhenium)

sheath material-Tantalum with Hafnium oxide as an Insulation

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 29 Feb 2016 23:20

How much deep we may have to dig on moon surface to find H3?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 01 Mar 2016 05:33

NASA invites India to jointly explore Mars, send astronauts - PTI

In future, India and the US could jointly explore Mars and who knows an Indian astronaut could also head to the Red planet on a joint mission.

India's maiden mission to the Red Planet, Mangalyaan, has opened the eyes of the world on ISRO's capabilities at undertaking low cost, high value inter-planetary mission.

Charles Elachi, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory or JPL, a part of NASA and an institution better known for piloting most of the American planetary exploration efforts with rovers like Curiosity, says India and the US could jointly explore Mars and even invited India to send astronauts to the Red Planet.

Excerpts of an interview:

Q) The US is interested in going back to Mars, so is India. Will India and America look at a joint robotic mission to explore Mars?

A) We hope so that it will be the case in the future. At NASA, we are just beginning to plan for next mission to Mars for the next decade, which is 2020-2030. In fact shortly, there is a meeting in Washington on possible collaborations for the next 5-6 mission to Mars and ISRO is invited for that meeting. This is in preparation for the ultimate human space flight to Mars. We clearly hope that India would be interested. Hopefully, India will be part of the consortium between US, Europe, France, Italy among others where all can capitalise on our capabilities to explore the solar system.

Q) A cooperative exploratory mission is what you are looking at?

A) Yes, that is right. With its accomplishment on the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) India is a great partner, India can be a full partner in the international endeavour for exploring Mars.

Q) In the long run, President Barack Obama has said America should send humans to Mars, so are you looking at a collaboration with India on that mission, since India also has a human space flight program?

A) NASA is starting to plan for the human expedition to Mars, and NASA is looking at it as an international endeavour. NASA has invited international agencies to start thinking together on how to send humans to Mars and beyond. So clearly that is an area where there will be collaboration between India and the US considering the capability that India has, by showing that it can meaningfully contribute to international endeavours.

Q) What was NASA's role in India's mission to Mars?

A) When India launched its mission to Mars, and I congratulate India on a superb mission by reaching the orbit or Mars in the very first attempt. JPL supported ISRO in the navigation and communication because of the antennas we have. Reaching the Mars orbit in first attempt was an amazing achievement and that too at such low cost. Now American scientists through its MAVEN mission and India through its Mars Orbiter Mission are sharing data.

Q) NASA is looking to mine an asteroid, is India likely to participate on that mission?

A) We are looking at a mission using electric propulsion, which is a major advancement in technology, to capture an asteroid and bring it back to lunar orbit so that astronauts can go and do more deeper exploration. NASA has opened the door for potential interest, be it from India or Europe. We are in a very early stage of planning so that is clearly an opportunity for more collaboration with India.

Q) Where are Indo-US relations in space heading?

A) I think they are heading for a very positive future, from five years ago the interest has now tremendously expanded. There is now good will both politically and scientifically, I am very optimistic about the future in space collaboration. Space is for everybody, the good will between two countries makes space a natural place to work together. The two can cooperate even in astronomy, India has a long history in astronomy. I visited the ancient observatory made by Indians (at Jantar Mantar) that is a few hundred years old that furthered knowledge and now we can do it together. India has a great tradition of learning.

Q) What else is in store for NASA and ISRO in the future?

A) We have a mission called NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission. This is a major mission that will be launched in 2020. Here we are really collaborating as equals, between India and the US. This mission will allow us to look at natural resources across the world, natural hazards like tectonic motion, climate impact and climate change. This is of direct day-to-day benefit for life both in USA and India. This came up as a collaboration among scientists but is now a full-fledged approved joint mission between both countries.

navneeet · Post by **navneeet** » 01 Mar 2016 08:27

Buried deep in the budget docs is a token princely sum of Rs. 0.1 cr for Space Docking Experiment!

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 01 Mar 2016 22:01

Any update on the upcoming IRNSS-1F? I remember reading it was going to be launched by March 6th, which is 5 days away. And then IRNSS-1G by the end of the month. Very quiet on these two missions!

member_23694 · Post by **member_23694** » 01 Mar 2016 22:18

^^^^^^^
10th March

1G in April.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 01 Mar 2016 22:26

Thanks dhiraj! Darn, so we are not going to see two missions in the same month, as stated earlier. Perhaps if 1G is launched on or before April 10th, they can say that two satellites were launched within one month.

sohamn · Post by **sohamn** » 02 Mar 2016 00:06

dhiraj wrote:
Varoon Shekhar wrote:"Isro all ready for Chandrayaan II, says its chairman Kiran Kumar"

Wonderful news, but what does 'all ready' mean, that the mission is going to take place soon? Late this year, or early next? Originally, it was planned for 2017-end, has it now been pushed forward? Great, if it has!
Don't think 2016-17 seems feasible. It needs GSLV and for such mission ISRO would like to have 3-4 successful development flight.
2018 seems realistic

I believe Chandrayaan 2 will be launched on GSLV MK2 and not LVM / GSLV 3

member_29350 · Post by **member_29350** » 02 Mar 2016 14:03

announcements for registrations for media is here

http://maadhyam.isro.gov.in/

PSLV-C32/IRNSS-1F launch is scheduled at 16:00 hrs IST (afternoon 4:00pm) on Thursday, March 10, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR.

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 02 Mar 2016 19:59

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thi ... 302609.ece

ISRO Performance Excellence Award

Honour for LPSC scientist

Nawal Kishore Gupta, former scientist with the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, has been conferred with the ‘ISRO Performance Excellence Award’ by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for 2012. Mr. Gupta, who had contributed significantly to the development of Earth Storable Liquid Engines, flown in PSLV for the launch of Chandrayan and Mangalyan missions and had also worked for the design and development of cryogenic engines. As project director of cryogenic stage C-25, he had contributed significantly for the design and development of cryogenic engine of higher thrust. This engine was tested successfully on February 19 and is ready for flight in GSLV MK III in December. — Special Correspondent

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 03 Mar 2016 19:31

sivaramn wrote:Looks like there is no change in budget for space 6K crores last year and this year too

"In a boost to the Department of Space (DoS), the Union budget 2016-17 allocated Rs 7509 crore to the department, an increase of around Rs 550 crore as compared to the last budget. Of the Rs 7509 crore budget allocation, Rs 1509 crore has been earmarked for different projects. In 2015-16, the revised budget for DoS was Rs 6959 crore, of which Rs 1359 crore was earmarked for various projects."- TOI

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 03 Mar 2016 20:25

dhiraj wrote:
Varoon Shekhar wrote:"Isro all ready for Chandrayaan II, says its chairman Kiran Kumar"

Wonderful news, but what does 'all ready' mean, that the mission is going to take place soon? Late this year, or early next? Originally, it was planned for 2017-end, has it now been pushed forward? Great, if it has!
Don't think 2016-17 seems feasible. It needs GSLV and for such mission ISRO would like to have 3-4 successful development flight.
2018 seems realistic

2 successful development flights have already been done and it is expected that GSAT-9, INSAT-3DR and the SAARC satellite will be launched by early 2017. That gives ISRO a time frame of mid to late 2017 for Chandrayaan II, assuming that director's statement about mission readiness holds ground!

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 03 Mar 2016 21:39

SaiK wrote:How much deep we may have to dig on moon surface to find H3?

the presence of H3 on moon is due to solar winds. and since deposition is the source, it is safe to say that H3 will be found adsorbed right at the surface and in the top couple of metres through historical sheet deposition of soil since there appears to be negligible volcanic or tectonic activity going on there.

JTull · Post by **JTull** » 03 Mar 2016 22:11

nTripathi wrote:
SaiK wrote:How much deep we may have to dig on moon surface to find H3?
the presence of H3 on moon is due to solar winds. and since deposition is the source, it is safe to say that H3 will be found adsorbed right at the surface and in the top couple of metres through historical sheet deposition of soil since there appears to be negligible volcanic or tectonic activity going on there.

Seems like an interesting subject. Do you have any reference material to read up on? thx

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 03 Mar 2016 22:30

Could mining helium-3 from the Moon solve Earth’s energy problems?: http://inhabitat.com/could-mining-heliu ... -problems/

Helium-3 Power Generation: http://www.explainingthefuture.com/helium3.html

Mining The Moon: http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/m ... 5/1283056/

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 03 Mar 2016 23:02

nTripathi wrote:Could mining helium-3 from the Moon solve Earth’s energy problems?: http://inhabitat.com/could-mining-heliu ... -problems/

Helium-3 Power Generation: http://www.explainingthefuture.com/helium3.html

Mining The Moon: http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/m ... 5/1283056/

No. Cheaper fusion, fission (thorium), and renewable technologies will come online and make the project irrelevant.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 03 Mar 2016 23:57

transmuting thorium to be fissile cost needs to be tabled. [leaving aside smugglers and gangs stealing KL sands secretly - was that true? .. need a space based probe for this]

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 04 Mar 2016 01:25

SaiK wrote:transmuting thorium to be fissile cost needs to be tabled. [leaving aside smugglers and gangs stealing KL sands secretly - was that true? .. need a space based probe for this]

It is true. It is one of the worst cases of theft in Indian history.

With reprocessing coupled with MSR like LFTR, it will be quite cheap.

This can fill the void until fusion and renewables reach parity.

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 04 Mar 2016 09:34

It appears ISRO is upgrading its generation of satellite-tech in next couple of years! From 2015 to 2018 time-frame, some feature upgrades to next satellites:
1. Unfurlable antenna (GSAT-6)
2. High capacity modular bus: i-6K (GSAT-11, GSAT-19E)
3. Electric propulsion (GSAT-9, GSAT-19E, GSAT-Ka)
4. Steerable beams (GSAT- Ka)
5. Deployable thermal radiators (GSAT-19E, GSAT-Ka)
6. multiple Satellite launch to different orbits (PSLV test in 2015)
7. Rendezvous & Docking (budget allocated)
8. Indigenous Li-ion batteries (GSAT-19E)

Can we have some one by one discussion on these and their applications?! Also please add any other new tech that I missed...

prashanth · Post by **prashanth** » 04 Mar 2016 10:13

nTripathi wrote:2. High capacity modular bus: i-6K (GSAT-11, GSAT-19E)

Tripathi ji, I think GSAT 11 is built on I-4k bus (4 ton class satellites). Correct me if I'm wrong.

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 04 Mar 2016 13:12

prashanth wrote:Tripathi ji, I think GSAT 11 is built on I-4k bus (4 ton class satellites). Correct me if I'm wrong.

Beyond the i-3K standard bus, ISRO is going to use unified bus for satellites in 4000-6000 kg class. Earlier they were developing the i-4K, and GSAT-11 is associated with this old information in those documents.

Sources: page 26> http://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/fi ... 014-15.pdf
http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sat/isro_i4k.htm

There is a lot of misinformation about ISRO projects out there on the web; its sad that old articles are not taken down or at least edited...

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 04 Mar 2016 13:36

RoyG wrote:No. Cheaper fusion, fission (thorium), and renewable technologies will come online and make the project irrelevant.

There is enough estimated H3 on moon to cater energy needs of humans for next 10,000 years. So it is safe to say that the project will not become irrelevant. However it may change in form: say we found an alternative source of energy right here on Earth which is comparable to energy generation capacity of H3. But the core problem of space travel with still be there; carrying fuel to the destination. Therefore, only logical solution in this century seems to to produce energy in-situ i.e. utilize the resources of our destination. e.g. moon-base to be powered by H3 but mars-base to be powered by some other material which exists there in abundance.

The forms of energy sources you mentioned still cannot compete against advantages of H3: renewable technologies have seriously low output to the infrastructure put into them; fission reactors lead to large quantities of radioactive waste; and fusion (mainly based on deutirium-tritium) will still suffer from quantities of neutron irradiation as a product along with helium!

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 04 Mar 2016 19:49

Good compilation there nTripathi, in addition to that there is news about
a mission to Lagrange point to study the Sun,
the second moon mission
and adoption of System on Chip
as well as reducing weight by using composites to build the satellite chassis

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 04 Mar 2016 21:11

vasu raya wrote:a mission to Lagrange point to study the Sun,
the second moon mission
and adoption of System on Chip
as well as reducing weight by using composites to build the satellite chassis

>The Aditya-1 (to lagrange point) will not occur before 2018. We have no reports on any ongoing work on building the spacecraft. maybe only the blueprint has been developed. or maybe some instruments are in final stages at IUCAA, BARC, etc.. But there is no committed date, so let's not talk about it.

>Chandrayaan-2 is all about reliability, so any new tech will most probably will not come into picture.

Extending the list from previous post:
9. System on Chip architecture for ultra performance improvement over current configuration (however, i do not see when it will be implemented and on which satellite... anybody? )

>Use of composites has always been in ISRO's core philosophy. They have been using materials with high strength to mass ratio for quite a while now; if there is some radical change here, please point it out!

member_23694 · Post by **member_23694** » 04 Mar 2016 21:25

http://www.isro.gov.in/launcher/pslv-c32-irnss-1f

http://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/fi ... _final.pdf

10th March 16:00

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 05 Mar 2016 03:26

Budget 2016 gives Major boost to Department of Space.

In a boost to the Department of Space (DoS), the Union budget 2016-17 allocated Rs 7509 crore to the department, an increase of around Rs 550 crore as compared to the last budget. Of the Rs 7509 crore budget allocation, Rs 1509 crore has been earmarked for different projects.

In 2015-16, the revised budget for DoS was Rs 6959 crore, of which Rs 1359 crore was earmarked for various projects. ISRO is the only science related department/ ministry, which has seen such a whooping hike in its budget.

The Department of Atomic Energy, which as the DoS comes under the Prime Minister's Office, has witnessed a wafer thin cut in its budget.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated Rs 381 crore for Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre while Satish Dhawan Space Research Centre, Rs 173 crore.

Last year, the non-plan outlay for different projects was Rs 1359 crore as compared to Rs 1509 crore this year. Money has also been earmarked for Chandrayaan 2, GSLV Mark III project and the INSAT satellite system.

The Department of Space will implement important missions like the proposed SAARC satellite mission later this year.

In the Union budget 2016-17, the Ministry of Science and Technology has been allocated Rs 9,488 crore as compared to Rs 10,361 in 2015-16 while the proposed allocation to Ministry of Earth Science is Rs 1,418 crore in 2016-17 which was Rs 1,672 crore in 2015-16.

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 06 Mar 2016 21:11

Vipul wrote:Budget 2016 gives Major boost to Department of Space.

In a boost to the Department of Space (DoS), the Union budget 2016-17 allocated Rs 7509 crore to the department, an increase of around Rs 550 crore as compared to the last budget. Of the Rs 7509 crore budget allocation, Rs 1509 crore has been earmarked for different projects.

In 2015-16, the revised budget for DoS was Rs 6959 crore, of which Rs 1359 crore was earmarked for various projects. ISRO is the only science related department/ ministry, which has seen such a whooping hike in its budget.

The Department of Atomic Energy, which as the DoS comes under the Prime Minister's Office, has witnessed a wafer thin cut in its budget.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley allocated Rs 381 crore for Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre while Satish Dhawan Space Research Centre, Rs 173 crore.

Last year, the non-plan outlay for different projects was Rs 1359 crore as compared to Rs 1509 crore this year. Money has also been earmarked for Chandrayaan 2, GSLV Mark III project and the INSAT satellite system.

The Department of Space will implement important missions like the proposed SAARC satellite mission later this year.

In the Union budget 2016-17, the Ministry of Science and Technology has been allocated Rs 9,488 crore as compared to Rs 10,361 in 2015-16 while the proposed allocation to Ministry of Earth Science is Rs 1,418 crore in 2016-17 which was Rs 1,672 crore in 2015-16.

its so fascinating that such little portion of the total budget goes to the ongoing projects (non-planned). For satellites, launchers, space missions, etc.; just 1509 crore rupees this year. Rest of the budget is going into maintaining the existing ground facilities, wages for employees, cost associated with spacecraft already in orbits, projects undertaken by space dept in conjunction with other depts... and the building of new facilities (like the second vehicle assembly building- its a planned project)...

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 07 Mar 2016 19:47

India to launch sixth navigation satellite on Thursday.

India is slated to put into orbit its sixth navigation satellite on Thursday evening, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced here on Monday.

The 1,425-kg IRNSS-1F - Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1F - would hurtle into space on board its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on March 10, the ISRO said. The rocket will blast off around 4 p.m. from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km from here.

This will be already the second rocket launch for India in 2016. The first one was on January 20 when a PSLV rocket put into orbit the IRNSS-1E satellite in text-book style.

Till date India has launched five regional navigational satellites (IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, ID and 1E) as part of a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km.

Though the full system comprises nine satellites -- seven in orbit and two on the ground as stand-by -- the navigation services could be made operational with four satellites, ISRO officials had said earlier. Each satellite costs about Rs.150 crore and the PSLV-XL version rocket costs about Rs.130 crore. The seven rockets would entail an outlay of about Rs.910 crore. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed in 2016 itself.

The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014, the third on October 2014, the fourth in March 2015, and the fifth in January this year.

The seventh satellite-IRNSS-1G- is expected to be launched in the second half of 2016.

Once the regional navigation system is in place, India need not be dependent on other platforms.

kit · Post by **kit** » 07 Mar 2016 20:06

At 100 cores the satellites seem quite cheap .. for 1000 crores I guess u can have 10 and a global GPS ??

sudeepj · Post by **sudeepj** » 07 Mar 2016 21:11

GPS and Glonass, the only "true" global constellations need 32 and 24 satellites for their full constellation. The Chinese system is a global constellation only in name, as their satellites are in highly elliptical orbits and spend most of their time over China.

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 08 Mar 2016 06:20

sudeepj wrote:GPS and Glonass, the only "true" global constellations need 32 and 24 satellites for their full constellation. The Chinese system is a global constellation only in name, as their satellites are in highly elliptical orbits and spend most of their time over China.

why would china purposely degrade its huge source of revenue? all its navigation satellites are in circular orbits: yes some are geostationary, some are inclined geosynchronous but all the rest are in medium earth orbits. the GEO and IGSO satellites provide better positioning over china (they spend all their time over china-side of earth), while MEO satellites are all evenly distributed...

disha · Post by **disha** » 08 Mar 2016 07:00

^^ How would you integrate into Chinese 'GPS' signals? Using mandarin APIs? The reason I say is the current one 'operational' since 2000 is actually a limited test version while their full scale global navigation system is still under construction. It will be operational only in 2020.

Anyway, as India's economy grows and becomes more global., Indian customers themselves would want to have a global coverage. Till then, it can slowly build out, first covering the domestic market then SAARC followed by indo-china and African markets.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 08 Mar 2016 07:06

we must have a policy driven gov order that no device sold in desh will have nothing less than a IRNSS transiever. rest is fancy.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 08 Mar 2016 10:04

PSLV C-32 countdown to begin today - The Hindu

The countdown to the launch of India’s sixth dedicated navigation satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh will begin at 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday, an ISRO official said. The countdown will be for 54 and half hours.

The ISRO will put into orbit the 1,425-kg IRNSS-1F regional navigation satellite being developed by India on Thursday evening. India’s workhorse satellite launch vehicle, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, the PSLV-C32, will carry the payload.

The ISRO had put into orbit the IRNSS-1E in January. The IRNSS-1F will be launched into a sub geosynchronous transfer orbit with a 284-km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 20,657-km apogee (farthest point to Earth), according to the ISRO.

The satellite will carry two types of payloads – navigation payload and ranging payload. The navigation payload will transmit navigation service signals to users.

juvva · Post by **juvva** » 08 Mar 2016 10:16

Count down started:

http://www.isro.gov.in/update/08-mar-20 ... 0930hr-ist

Mar 08, 2016
The 54hr 30min countdown activity of PSLV-C32/IRNSS-1F Mission has started at 09:30hr IST today, Tuesday, March 8, 2016

nTripathi · Post by **nTripathi** » 08 Mar 2016 22:20

disha wrote: How would you integrate into Chinese 'GPS' signals? Using mandarin APIs?

are you talking about merging beidou and irnss coverage areas?... well that is far from becoming a reality. Military of Pakistan is an authorized user of chinese system and India will not like its assets used in a way that makes it regret later! Other way can be augmentation of IRNSS signals using beidou... that is definitely a possible scenario!

The reason I say is the current one 'operational' since 2000 is actually a limited test version while their full scale global navigation system is still under construction. It will be operational only in 2020.

the one that became operational in early 2000's was beidou-1... it has since been retired. from 2007 to 2014 was beidou-2/compass (it covers whole of china, india, australia, asia pacific). this one is operational. From 2015, they are building the 3rd gen system covering the globe. to be operational by 2020!

Anyway, as India's economy grows and becomes more global., Indian customers themselves would want to have a global coverage. Till then, it can slowly build out, first covering the domestic market then SAARC followed by indo-china and African markets.

Now this is what i hope that happens. I believe if India places the similar configuration of GEO/GSO sats between 25 degree west to 32 degree east, the whole of africa can be covered using four extra satellites! one way to go about India-Africa relationship...

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Mar 2016 10:53

With IRNSS almost up in orbit, ground centres get into place - Madhumitha D.S, The Hindu

As national space agency ISRO gets closer to completing the seven-spacecraft regional navigation system in space by April as planned, it also is quickly putting across cities the last pieces of ground-based support infrastructure of the system.

Even as the sixth spacecraft, IRNSS-1F, is slated to be launched on Thursday from Sriharikota, IRNSS-1G, the seventh and last scheduled one apart from a few spares, is slated for March 31 or later in April.

The IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) has come to be known as the country’s own ‘GPS’. Its nerve centre, the ISRO Navigation Centre, is at Byalalu on the outskirts of Bengaluru and is part of the 21 ground locations.

ISRO is learnt to be adding a back-up for it at Lucknow. Four more centres providing different vital services are also coming up.

Among them are data receiving and processing centres; units that have instruments such as atomic clocks for keeping accurate time, which is essential in navigation; and those that generate and transmit navigation parameters and maintain the spacecraft in position all the time.

Navigation satellites provide three main data, namely PNT: information on position, navigation and time. The data is important for a host of users, from the military to managers of air land and sea transport up to the man on the street looking to reach somewhere.

The ground segment, estimated to cost Rs. 300 crore, is part of the Rs. 1,420-crore IRNSS scheme, which was approved in May 2006. “Currently, the IRNSS ground segment is operational on a 24/7 basis [through] 13 IRIMS (Indian Range and Integrity Monitoring Stations; 1 IRNSS Network Timing Centre; one ISRO Navigation Centre and one Spacecraft Control Facility with its data communication network. Along with the deployment of the constellation, the entire ground segment with two more IRIMS and one each of [Network timing Centre,] INC and SCF is planned to be established,” ISRO said.

The range monitoring IRIMS, which could eventually total 15 to 17, will be spread across Gaggal, Dehradun, Lucknow, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bhopal, Shillong, Kolkata, Goa, Pune, Kavaratti, Mahendragiri and Port Blair, besides Bengaluru and Hassan.

A Space Control Facility each will be in Hassan — where the Master Control Facility for communication satellites functions since many decades — and its alternative centre in Bhopal.

kit · Post by **kit** » 09 Mar 2016 17:22

once the INRSS is in place would it be possible to block all GPS signals in India ? at times of war for example ?

member_27581 · Post by **member_27581** » 09 Mar 2016 18:04

Will the chinese and pakistanis be able to access the IRNSS? Could it be turned up against us in any fashion?